I stumbled across some home grown hops (Cascades and Fuggles) and wanted to use them in a few brews to feature them. The problem is I dont have a scale that can read oz so I wanted to know if anyone had a rough idea of how much by volume an oz of fresh hops would be? Like ½ cup of fresh hops = ~1oz. I wont be using these as bittering hops due to the unknown levels

The volume of hops varies so much with the type, dryness and whether or not they've been packaged, it's impossible to make an estimate. On the other hand, I've seen recipes that called for "a large handful of hops per five gallons".

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Remember one unassailable statistic, as explained by the late, great George Carlin: "Just think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of them are even stupider!"

The volume of hops varies so much with the type, dryness and whether or not they've been packaged, it's impossible to make an estimate.

Yeah, really... The first time I bought 1lb of whole hops I was shocked to see the huge bag (the size of a throw pillow) get condensed down to a few 1-gallon bags flattened to like a half inch thick when I vacuum sealed them. When you take them out of the bag again, they're still much more compacted than in their original, loose form. I don't think any measure of whole hops by volume would be very accurate, ESPECIALLY if you're trying to repeat someone else's results under different conditions.

Having a scale really is a worthwhile investment, not only for hops but for extract, grains, and sugar... Plus it comes in handy for cooking quite often.

+1 to scale from ebay, or from your local "alternative tobacco goods" store. Mine was $15, and I've used the ever-lovin' hell out of it. I use it for both grains and hops. And priming sugar. And other stuff.

If you really must go without a scale, then screw trying to use a "cup" of some kind. Just eyeball it. Get a good ol' handful and chuck it in, knowing that you're Brewing Like It's 1799.